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Bill to prevent other states' traffic cameras from fining N.J. drivers could be in the fast lane: The Auditor

red light cameras

A bill to ban the New Jersey MVC from sharing driver's info with other states for the purpose of ticketing by traffic camera is getting support from influential state senators
(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon’s (R-Monmouth) bill to stop New Jersey drivers from getting traffic camera tickets in other states may have some juice.

When O’Scanlon introduced the bill last month, nobody introduced a companion bill in the state Senate. But that changed Thursday, when two senators with the first name Nick – Sacco (D-Hudson) and Scutari (D-Union) – practically tripped over each other to introduce it.

Sacco is the chairman of the Senate’s transportation committee, which significantly brightens the bill’s (A3527) prospects.

"He’s the transportation chairman. That’s why I got him on," Scutari said of Sacco.

Scutari said while O’Scanlon recently has gotten a lot of attention as a big opponent of red light cameras, he’s been railing against them for at least as long. "I’ve been the foremost critic of the red light cameras from the moment they started," he said.

Sacco said Scutari merely "beat me to the bill."

"I’ve been getting loads of complaints from people," he said. "They drive to Virginia to visit relatives. They go through Maryland. They come back home and start receiving tickets in the mail. And they swear that they’re not speeding, that they’re keeping up with the traffic."

O’Scanlon — who said Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen) is as a co-sponsor in the lower house — was happy to hear the news, saying it might provide a "shot in the arm" for the legislation.